Romney ad: President Obama’s spending habits have created a “prairie fire” of debt

posted at 12:01 pm on September 18, 2012 by Erika Johnsen

The Romney campaign is out with a new round of ads, and given that much has been made of whether/how Team R is going to re-strategize in the now t-minus 49 days until election day, this latest attack on President Obama’s spending policies is bringing some focus to the national debt, in no unclear terms.

A pretty apt metaphor, I’d say — the tone is kind of scary, but heck, so is the problem. As the WSJ pointed out yesterday:

Did you know that annual spending by the federal government now exceeds the 2007 level by about $1 trillion? With a slow economy, revenues are little changed. The result is an unprecedented string of federal budget deficits, $1.4 trillion in 2009, $1.3 trillion in 2010, $1.3 trillion in 2011, and another $1.2 trillion on the way this year. The four-year increase in borrowing amounts to $55,000 per U.S. household. …

Did you know that the Federal Reserve is now giving money to banks, effectively circumventing the appropriations process? To pay for quantitative easing—the purchase of government debt, mortgage-backed securities, etc.—the Fed credits banks with electronic deposits that are reserve balances at the Federal Reserve. These reserve balances have exploded to $1.5 trillion from $8 billion in September 2008. …

Did you know that funding for federal regulatory agencies and their employment levels are at all-time highs? In 2010, the number of Federal Register pages devoted to proposed new rules broke its previous all-time record for the second consecutive year. It’s up by 25% compared to 2008. These regulations alone will impose large costs and create heightened uncertainty for business and especially small business.

…Yikes. In that same vein, however, this next ad is one that, on a personal level, I find extremely effective. As you may have read in my various rants against the Democrats’ completely manufactured “war on women,” I am fed up with being told that I’m not a ‘real woman’ because I dare to have political concerns that transcend contraception, abortion, and the Lilly Ledbetter Act. I’m supposed to believe that Mitt Romney’s policies would make it a “scary time to be a woman” (I’ll say it again: Are you flipping kidding me!?), but the only things that “scare” me about the upcoming election are the exact same reasons that everybody, man and woman, should be scared. I’m scared that, because of our spending habits and our growing government, our economy is contracting; that jobs and opportunities and wealth creation is going to be that much harder to come by; and that my and my children’s future incomes (if we can find jobs, that is) are going to get the bejesus taxed out of them because our political system couldn’t get its act together. That is what I’m scared of.

What women (should!) care about is the economy — can it ever be said enough? I think this is a great parry to the Obama campaign’s scare-tactic spin machine trying to make women believe that somebody is going to swoop in and confiscate their contraception, or whatever it is they’re always on about. What say you, ladies (and gents!)?

Prairie Fire: would be better if we knew what the prairie fire of debt would do when it got closer to our homes and children. It obviously won’t literally burn us. But, what will it do? Most people know in the abstract that the debt is bad, but they see a lot of angst, but not a lot of ill effect. How about telling the people what the ramifications of this debt are to our and our children’s future?

Dear Daughter: What policies are causing women to be unemployed? What will Romney do differently to reverse course? And, again, what are the ramifications of the debt? We often hear about how much debt each taxpayer owes, but we don’t see the ill effect. How about connecting some dots?

Look – somehow, some way, Obama, with a huge assist from Clinton and the press, has separated and innoculated himself to some extent from the economy. The meme is that he just couldn’t bring us back from what Bush did. That needs to be rebutted. People need to know what Obama did specifically that is retarding growth and why. And they need to know (if just at a high level) how Romney is going to reverse that ill effect.

ROTFLMAO… How many people will realize that Romney just Alinski’d Obama?

William (Bill) Ayers wrote a Marxist Revolutionary pamphlet back in the 60’s called “Prairie Fires” and in that pamphlet Bill Ayers stated that it would be necessary to incarcerate and then eliminate up to 25 million Americans, because they would refuse to assimilate into the new Marxist social order.

13. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. In conflict tactics there are certain rules that [should be regarded] as universalities. One is that the opposition must be singled out as the target and ‘frozen.’…

“…any target can always say, ‘Why do you center on me when there are others to blame as well?’ When your ‘freeze the target,’ you disregard these [rational but distracting] arguments…. Then, as you zero in and freeze your target and carry out your attack, all the ‘others’ come out of the woodwork very soon. They become visible by their support of the target…’

“One acts decisively only in the conviction that all the angels are on one side and all the devils on the other.” (pps.127-134)

OT, but I’m still waiting for the outrage from the lsm about an American ambassador being dragged from the embassy – alive — tortured, sodomized and murdered. Apparently, the only outrageous thing that happened that night was Romney said the embassy’s apology was inappropriate. Meanwhile, President Jive Ass continues to go to fundraisers.

Look – somehow, some way, Obama, with a huge assist from Clinton and the press, has separated and innoculated himself to some extent from the economy. The meme is that he just couldn’t bring us back from what Bush did. That needs to be rebutted. People need to know what Obama did specifically that is retarding growth and why. And they need to know (if just at a high level) how Romney is going to reverse that ill effect.

besser tot als rot on September 18, 2012 at 12:13 PM

If he can’t bring us back from what Bush did, how is he going to bring us back from what Obama did? It’s MUCH worse all the way across the board now.

Its a 30 second ad. 30 second ads arent meant to explain anything in detail. You just try to leave an impression on the mind.

swamp_yankee on September 18, 2012 at 12:09 PM

Give an impression of a connection then – it would take 2-5 seconds. And address it more fully somewhere. In another ad. In the debates. In interviews. Whatever. I don’t care. He just needs to get it done.

Folks – the days of not bringing up Politics at work, school, Church are over. When people say they dont discuss at work, i do anyway. Our republic depends on it. I just picked off two vietnamese guys yesterday that i send information too that were on the fence. Im working Florida like its going out of style.

If he can’t bring us back from what Bush did, how is he going to bring us back from what Obama did? It’s MUCH worse all the way across the board now.

UnderstandingisPower on September 18, 2012 at 12:15 PM

That’s not what he, Clinton, or the press are selling. You and I agree, but that is not what people are hearing. So Romney needs to tell them that and which of Obama’s policy led to us being worse off and how (connect the dots because you can rest assured that if he doesn’t, the media will pound him).

and that my and my children’s future incomes (if we can find jobs, that is) are going to get the bejesus taxed out of them because our political system couldn’t get its act together. That is what I’m scared of.
by Erika Johnsen

There is only one solution… It is not Romney by the way. Unless you just want to kick the can down the road until your no longer the one that will be crushed by these things…

Cap and Balance. A cap on federal spending and a Blanced Budget Requirement in the constitution.

Romney and his spokespeople have said repeatedly that they will not be able to balance the budget. Then when the next cycle comes around, what if Obama II becomes president and Nancy the Zombie becomes Speaker and Hairy Dead Ried is the Senate majority leader?

I know he signed the cut, cap and balance pledge… That was a LONG LONG time ago in politics and will hold no sway over his actions.

Before he earns my vote, and before he earns yours, you should demand he make that pledge again, in no uncertain terms. Otherwise, the can is getting kicked down the road and it will be your cuaghter who pays! And mine.

Bret Baier revisited three Iowans last night on Special Report. One was an independent voter who’s married with two kids. She voted for Obama in 2008, but was leaning to the GOP when Baier spoke to her in the past. She’s concerned about the debt and deficits. I’d say Romney hit a few notes for independents in Iowa concerned about similar matters.

Prairie Fire: would be better if we knew what the prairie fire of debt would do when it got closer to our homes and children. It obviously won’t literally burn us. But, what will it do? Most people know in the abstract that the debt is bad, but they see a lot of angst, but not a lot of ill effect. How about telling the people what the ramifications of this debt are to our and our children’s future?

besser tot als rot on September 18, 2012 at 12:07 PM

See Greece. Yes, it may literally burn you if you get too close to the molotov cocktails.

I’ve still never heard Romney or Ryan really explain what happens to the people on the dole when the money runs out. Those receiving entitlements are blissfully unaware that their benefits will be slashed severely if nothing is done. All anyone hears is “what does this mean to me”. so far the republicans are not addressing this. 4 more years of obama’s spending will put us in a financial death spiral and those receiving benefits will have them cut. that point is not being made. doing nothing will have major consequences.

Prairie Fire: would be better if we knew what the prairie fire of debt would do when it got closer to our homes and children. It obviously won’t literally burn us. But, what will it do? Most people know in the abstract that the debt is bad, but they see a lot of angst, but not a lot of ill effect. How about telling the people what the ramifications of this debt are to our and our children’s future? besser tot als rot on September 18, 2012 at 12:07 PM

Romney is kicking the can down the road on the economy/free market, but Obama must be replaced so that the DOJ can be cleaned out. Nothing about Obama worries me more than the DOJ.
besser tot als rot on September 18, 2012 at 12:25 PM

Obama’s guilty of so many thousands of times worse things than Romney is and all we hear is crickets.

The issue is that the media has decided its them that has the right to choose who the President will be, its that simple.

Speakup on September 18, 2012 at 12:06 PM

…but WE ARE the MSM!…but…but …but Romney said something about the middle east and stuff… while JugEars was fund raising or something…and there’s smoke all over the desert because of a tape from June or July…and Romney said something on an edited secret tape or something…and look at JugEars!…he has crowds and is loved!…and he’s still going to fill our gas tanks, pay our mortgages, and buy our food for us from a list Mooch approves of from food stamps he gives us…and we are trying to prove that the Romney guy is out of touch..and we will determine when and where to report on that Romney guy…and ignore what JugEars is doing or said in the past…and nothing is going on that concerns you unless we report it…and

I like the ad targeting women, but Romney needs to say what he would do to make thier situation better. He needs a specific policy that the middle class can relate to. Remember Cain’s 999 plan? Ryan could help Romney craft something similar.

Romney is kicking the can down the road on the economy/free market, but Obama must be replaced so that the DOJ can be cleaned out. Nothing about Obama worries me more than the DOJ.

besser tot als rot on September 18, 2012 at 12:25 PM

I am just saying now is your chance to hold Romney’s feet to the fire. Before you vote for him. Get him to put his second term on the line with, Read My Lips, Cut, Cap and Balance! Or something along those lines.

I am still trying to figure out how can be a lucky person to ask romney a tough question at the debates…

It won’t be Hell. So, yes, he needs to explain it and explain how he’ll correct course. Otherwise, he’ll continue to tread water (at best). That might be enough to barely get him over the finish line, but I’d rather not have to risk a 50/50 election.

I like the ad targeting women, but Romney needs to say what he would do to make thier situation better. He needs a specific policy that the middle class can relate to. Remember Cain’s 999 plan? Ryan could help Romney craft something similar.

celticdefender on September 18, 2012 at 12:30 PM

Cap and Balance is the simplest message to get it done. If the government is limited to X % of GDP and also cannot run a deficit, then the whole idea of runaway costs for government goes away. Then it is simply a matter of wherethat X% of GDP goes. That can be worked out in the elections…

Right now politicians are free to steal money from people who do not vote. Children.

I am just saying now is your chance to hold Romney’s feet to the fire. Before you vote for him. Get him to put his second term on the line with, Read My Lips, Cut, Cap and Balance! Or something along those lines.

astonerii on September 18, 2012 at 12:30 PM

I agree, but his sycophants like Basilsbest and changer1701 sure do run a lot of interference for him.

It won’t be Hell. So, yes, he needs to explain it and explain how he’ll correct course. Otherwise, he’ll continue to tread water (at best). That might be enough to barely get him over the finish line, but I’d rather not have to risk a 50/50 election.

besser tot als rot on September 18, 2012 at 12:30 PM

The first ring of the inferno will be like the 70’s, complete with Disco music…sounds like h*ll to me.

With all due respect, hyperinflation is already here. Why do you think Gold is at $1770.00 and Ounce and Gasoline over $4.00 a gallon?

SWalker on September 18, 2012 at 12:24 PM

Maybe. But without a full court press by Team Romney, I doubt you’re going to be able to sell that story to the public.

besser tot als rot on September 18, 2012 at 12:27 PM

What does selling it to the public have to do with reality? When I bought my first car in 1978, gasoline cost an outrageous (Arab Oil Embargo massive price hike, remember?) $.55 a gallon. It’s been 34 years, now do the math and tell me what the percentage of increase in cost has been per year. Then try to tell me or anyone else that isn’t hyperinflation.

Hell Gasoline cost under $2.00 per gallon 4 years ago when Obama was elected, that’s a 100 percent increase. Since 1978 the cost of Gasoline has increased over 600 percent. Yes, that is hyperinflation. Whether the public gets it or not doesn’t change anything.

much has been made of whether/how Team R is going to re-strategize in the now t-minus 49 days until election day,

.
49 days is still a long time too hols someones attention. 47-45, 46-47
45-43- no matter what these poll numbers are- MOE aside- the 10% who are saying they are not committed yet, will not be making up there minds until the last days anyway. If they haven’t decided by now….. they are waiting for the debates…… and the game to play out.

The debates will be stacked against Romney, so it will be the Media’s race to lose.
How well the media can shine this socialist turd in these last 7 weeks is the ball game.

We have two choices. They are Romney or Obama.
If you love your country…there is ONLY one choice.

annoyinglittletwerp on September 18, 2012 at 12:36 PM

I do not have to accept your opinion on what love of country requires. We have many paths we can take as a country.

Addicts do not change until they choose to change. They either hit rock bottom and have a I want to live experience, or they do not. Romney is not a I want to live experience, it is, someone get me a hangover fix it kit so I can go out partying tonight experience.

You can take your either or BS ans shove it deep inside an orifice of your body. I am not persuaded by it!

I do not have to accept your opinion on what love of country requires. We have many paths we can take as a country.

Addicts do not change until they choose to change. They either hit rock bottom and have a I want to live experience, or they do not. Romney is not a I want to live experience, it is, someone get me a hangover fix it kit so I can go out partying tonight experience.

You can take your either or BS ans shove it deep inside an orifice of your body. I am not persuaded by it!

astonerii on September 18, 2012 at 12:45 PM

I was not my first choice either, but you have to be impressed with Romney’s resume and the pick of Ryan as his running mate. He’s got the experience as a turn-around artist and as a man who knows how to get things done. He’s worth a shot. If he doesn’t get the job done, then we can fire him in four years.

The alternative (Gary johnson, I suppose) has a good resume, too, but does not have the backing of enough support to build a national campaign. A vote for johnson will serve to re-elect obama just like a vote for Perot gave us Clinton.

I’m a woman with three grown daughters, and none of us believe the “War on Women” rot.

Obama is not only mortgaging our future, man and woman. He is incinerating it. All the rest of this is a distraction to get the O re-elected so he can completely trash the country. What hasn’t been trashed already.

My first thought was the synonym to “Broken Arrow” in Vietnam, call in everything you have and destroy everything around you.

Bishop on September 18, 2012 at 12:16 PM

Actually, “Broken Arrow” was a call meaning that an American unit was in “desperate circumstances” and in danger of being overrun. It meant that every available aircraft with armament onboard was to divert from their assigned mission and proceed, post haste, to the battle site, stack up and be directed in on strikes by the FAC.
(I had my butt saved that way a couple of times.)

Actually, “Broken Arrow” was a call meaning that an American unit was in “desperate circumstances” and in danger of being overrun. It meant that every available aircraft with armament onboard was to divert from their assigned mission and proceed, post haste, to the battle site, stack up and be directed in on strikes by the FAC.
(I had my butt saved that way a couple of times.)

Pinnacle – Broken Arrow refers to an accidental event that involves nuclear weapons, warheads or components, but which does not create the risk of nuclear war. These include:

Accidental or unexplained nuclear detonation.
Non-nuclear detonation or burning of a nuclear weapon.
Radioactive contamination.
Loss in transit of nuclear asset with or without its carrying vehicle.
Jettisoning of a nuclear weapon or nuclear component.
Public hazard, actual or implied.

Examples of Broken Arrow events are:

1950 British Columbia B-36 crash
1956 B-47 disappearance
1958 Mars Bluff, South Carolina, when an unloaded Mark 6 bomb was accidentally dropped from a US Air Force B47 Stratojet (the bomb’s fissile core was stored in a containment area on the plane, but the bomb still contained 7600 pounds of chemical explosive trigger).
1958 Tybee Island mid-air collision
1961 Yuba City B-52 crash
1965. LTJG Douglas M. Webster, a United States Navy aviator, was the sole victim of a 1965 Broken Arrow in the Pacific Ocean that went unacknowledged by the Pentagon until 1981. His A-4 Skyhawk was lost over the side of the USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) on 5 December 1965 while the attack jet, armed with a B43 nuclear bomb, was being rolled from a hangar bay onto an elevator during a training exercise off the coast of Japan. Webster, the A-4E Skyhawk, BuNo 151022, of Attack Squadron VA-56, and the nuclear weapon were lost when the jet rolled off an elevator,[4] of the aircraft carrier in 16,000 feet of water in the Pacific Ocean, 80 miles from Okinawa.[5] [6] The Skyhawk was being rolled from the number 2 hangar bay to the number 2 elevator when it was lost.[7] Airframe, pilot, and the bomb were never found.[8] No public mention was made of the incident at the time and it would not come to light until a 1981 Pentagon report revealed that a one-megaton bomb had been lost.[9] Japan then asked for details of the incident.[10]
1966 Palomares B-52 crash[11]
1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash

You can take your either or BS ans shove it deep inside an orifice of your body. I am not persuaded by it!

astonerii on September 18, 2012 at 12:45 PM

You are really no different than anyone who refuses to accept reality regardless of their political leanings. Gary Johnson (or anyone else running besides Obama and Romney) will be less than a footnote in history. They do not matter. It really is an either/or decision. Sitting out is in effect a vote for the status quo.

Changes are made from within the party. Romney is all we can do right now. That’s it. Real changes will not come from a third party, they will come from a transformational figure like Reagan within the party. Until we have someone like that we have to face reality. Romney is reality and I will vote for him. You, you can sulk in the corner or throw away your vote on a nobody who will make no difference since you refuse to accept reality.

You are really no different than anyone who refuses to accept reality regardless of their political leanings. Gary Johnson (or anyone else running besides Obama and Romney) will be less than a footnote in history. They do not matter. It really is an either/or decision. Sitting out is in effect a vote for the status quo.

Changes are made from within the party. Romney is all we can do right now. That’s it. Real changes will not come from a third party, they will come from a transformational figure like Reagan within the party. Until we have someone like that we have to face reality. Romney is reality and I will vote for him. You, you can sulk in the corner or throw away your vote on a nobody who will make no difference since you refuse to accept reality.

jazzmo on September 18, 2012 at 1:08 PM

I have said it before, and I guess have to repeat it. I do not care who is in charge of the country. I will survive just fine. I am not someone who gives a big deal about being comfortable and so forth. I make do with little or I can indulge when I can.

I can just as easily go through Obama crashing the economy and America waking up that way as I can Romney saving the 47% and increasing their numbers through stabilizing for a few years the economy so we can crash later anyways.

So, I do not have to accept your either or. I am fine either way. In fact, I would prefer to get the suffering over with quickly rather than drag is out another decade just so jerks can get theirs and die off before the consequences are laid on innocents shoulders.

You call putting off til tomorrow what should be done today patriotic. I call it George W Bush’s housing bubble syndrome. 2004 bubble bursting would have been far better than 2008! I hate you are either with us or against us garbage, especially when the team preaching it is a bunch of disgusting human beings!

In other news, Pres. Obama shed 2 more points from his lead in the Gallup tracking poll today, and now leads only by one point (47-46). One week ago, he had a 7-point lead (50-43). And that is among registered voters. (In 2008, the difference between Gallup’s final registered and likely voter numbers was no change in Pres. Obama’s number, and a 2-point gain for McCain. And, in the actual voting results, Pres. Obama’s number was still the same as Gallup’s final number, and McCain got yet another 3.5%.)

But, yeah, according to the commentators, apparently Romney had the worst possible week of his campaign.

I was not my first choice either, but you have to be impressed with Romney’s resume and the pick of Ryan as his running mate. He’s got the experience as a turn-around artist and as a man who knows how to get things done. He’s worth a shot. If he doesn’t get the job done, then we can fire him in four years.

The alternative (Gary johnson, I suppose) has a good resume, too, but does not have the backing of enough support to build a national campaign. A vote for johnson will serve to re-elect obama just like a vote for Perot gave us Clinton.

Deafdog on September 18, 2012 at 12:52 PM

Romney gaines some respect from his leaked video. I am not impressed with his resume. Ryan;s claim to fame is mainlining the whole idea that we do not need to ever balance the budget. Romney’s method of turning around companies is what I fear most about him running America, he would go in and hock the company for every penny he could extract, give a bunch of that money to himself and his cronies, put some of it back into the company to make it look productive for a while, and then dump it on some other suckers after having other paid hacks give the company good ratings. Not all of his deals were like this, but several fit the bill.

The problem withfiring him in four years is that his firing comes at the cost of the Republican brand name, and thus that means voters turning out in droves to vote democrat, someone like Obama, and pelosi and reid. Then where are we? 4 years down the road, weaker than we are today with a brand new repeat of Obama!

As you can see, this gets really murky as to whether Romney is a good bet or not.

The only way to make it a certain gauranteed bet is my demand. Cut, Cap and Balance, front and center, a make it break it promise, my career is on the line! Then even if Romney fails, the next set of Obama, Pelosi and Reid are hog tied!

Pretty sure the ad featuring fire is racist somehow. I’ll have to wait for Tingles Mathews to tell me how.

changer1701 on September 18, 2012 at 12:07 PM

Maybe they should have had a black mother and baby in the second ad.

The cumulative four-year deficit for Obama’s term is $5.2 trillion, or about $17,000 per PERSON (including children) in the United States. The mother-and-baby ad would have been more effective if they showed Obama holding out his hand to the baby saying “You owe me $17,000 from before you were born, and if I’m re-elected, you’ll owe me $35,000”.

In other news, Pres. Obama shed 2 more points from his lead in the Gallup tracking poll today, and now leads only by one point (47-46). One week ago, he had a 7-point lead (50-43). And that is among registered voters. (In 2008, the difference between Gallup’s final registered and likely voter numbers was no change in Pres. Obama’s number, and a 2-point gain for McCain. And, in the actual voting results, Pres. Obama’s number was still the same as Gallup’s final number, and McCain got yet another 3.5%.)

But, yeah, according to the commentators, apparently Romney had the worst possible week of his campaign.

acasilaco on September 18, 2012 at 1:18 PM

Not surprising. Gallup does a 7-day tracking poll, so that a 7-day tracking poll from a week ago (9/11) would have included the 5 days immediately after Obama’s DNC speech. Today’s Gallup poll covers September 11-17 inclusive, with 6 days AFTER the murder of the ambassador to Libya and the storming of the Egyptian embassy was known, and the post-convention “bounce” has dropped out of the average.

Maybe some voters have woken up to the fact that foreign policy DOES matter, and the only adults in the Presidential race are Romney and Ryan.

You can take your either or BS ans shove it deep inside an orifice of your body. I am not persuaded by it!

astonerii on September 18, 2012 at 12:45 PM

So, you want Romney to stop by your place some evening, kiss your ass for a while and make some hard-and-fast promises that he’ll do whatever you think is best…in order to persuade you to do the right thing for your country?
Gotcha.